Posted on 03/07/2005 7:13:47 AM PST by Ellesu
Driver Arrested After Leaving Scene
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- An ice cream truck driver drove off after killing a 2-year-old boy who ran into her path in the parking lot of the young child's apartment complex, authorities said.
Witnesses say the driver got out, moved Moses Joseph and drove off Saturday. When driver Angela Rodriguez got home a quarter mile away, her husband saw blood on her hands, thought she was injured and started to drive her to the hospital, Palm Beach County sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said Sunday.
Rodriguez told her husband along the way about the accident. She "told her husband that she thinks she may have hit a small child and the husband said, 'You need to do the right thing,"' Barbera said. The woman surrendered at the sheriff's office.
In the meantime, deputies searching the area near the boy's home found the ice cream truck at Rodriguez's house and cordoned it off for investigators.
Rodriguez, 27, was charged with leaving the scene of a fatality. She was jailed Sunday on $100,000 bail on a charge carrying a possible 15-year prison sentence.
Emmanuelle Richard ran to help her only child and held him in her arms. But Moses died on the grass outside the family's suburban apartment.
"That's all she has," said family friend John Chery, who was on his way to pick up Moses and take him to a park. "You just don't know how lovable this child was."
What a sad story. I am glad to see the driver made the right decision.
Sometimes fear makes us humans react in odd ways.
Completely agree. Leaving the scene is not good -- but the shock must have been awful. I'm glad her husband helped her come around. Prayers for the mother.
Even before I clicked onto this thread of yours I figured this happened in Miami. I wasn't too far off
I have to wonder how fast she was driving.
Where was mom, leaving a two year old unattended in a parking lot? When my younuns were that age, I held on to them with a vise-like grip anywhere near a street, parking lot, etc.
If a two year old child was running loose in the street, the mother shares much of the blame for this tragic accident.
Did I just say accident? It is not an accident when a two year old is run over in the street; it is simply negligence on the part of the parents.
I happened to be in a low income apartment complex and my car was hit by a child riding his bike. The child was fine, just laying there crying. Of course, the way it looked was not good for me as I was being approached by a large crowd of folks, and I was the minority. Luckily, 4 LEO cars showed up, from various jurisdictions and eventually let me go.
Given that situation again, I would leave the scene and travel directly to the police station. Of course, the LEO's in that situation did a fine job in keeping everyone cool and I commend them for a job well done. The parents/guardians were very helpful in keeping the situation in control too. I think the rest of the crowd had no idea what happenned but assumed the worst. That assumption could have gotten me severly injured or killed.....
Of course, the driver in this story didn't seem to be in the same situation, so I'm disturbed she didn't stop.
Kids wander in front or behind cars, lose their balance... Moving "at all" would be fast enough.
She may have been barely moving, but ice cream trucks attract kids like a magnet. This kid may have just popped out of nowhere. I would go nuts worrying about just this sort of thing happening if I drove one of those trucks or a school bus or something.
I wondered about the two year old thing when my husband told me about an incident that happened to him a few months ago. He says one of the saddest things he ever saw as a FedEx driver was a two year who thought he was the ice cream man.
I wondered about the two year old thing when my husband told me about an incident that happened to him a few months ago. He says one of the saddest things he ever saw as a FedEx driver was a two year who thought he was the ice cream man.
CSM -- I am so glad you posted your own experience. It really does flesh out this story. The devil's in the details.
When I was two, I could barely walk. Where was the mother or guardian who was to be watching a half-coordinated child?
The driver got out of the car, pulled the child away, and drove off.
This did not happen in a second.
Where was the mother? or caretaker?
Am not defending the driver, believe me, but no two year old should be allowed near the street.
My husband once hit a seven year old girl who rode her bike down her driveway and into the street in front of him. Fortunately, he was only going about 20 mph and he managed to turn away from her and just hit the front tire of her bicycle. The little girl was fine except for some scrapes and her mother declined to have her taken to the hospital. My husband wasn't even ticketed because several witnesses confirmed his description of the events.
Two days after the accident, in the regular mail, he received notification that he was being sued. He told the insurance company not to settle and they did anyway. He had to complain to a state regulatory office to stop the insurance company from raising his insurance costs after they settled against his wishes.
I made a call several years ago where a mom driving an ice cream truck ran over her own toddler.
Broke my heart.
Ummm.. not to state the obvious here, but it clearly says they were in a "parking lot"... not "the street."
I live across the street from a large apartment complex. The ice cream truck comes every day, in fact several times a day (even during the winter!) annoys the heck out of me. Anyway, kids flock to it, they all follow it around.. Parents give their kids money (I assume) and the kid runs out to the ice cream truck.
This is the way it's always been. Sure, some parents come out there.. but this is all within the gates, within their home.. the driver knows to creep along at 2 miles per hour (yes two miles per hour) because kids are all around him.
But, sure, if you want to blame this on the parents who don't have their child on a leash or handcuffed to a chair in their apartment, go ahead.
I'm not saying the driver is definitely at fault, either - I guess I'd want to know the circumstances a little more clearly. But having a need to wag a finger at a parent for being "negligent" is a bit much, in my opinion. This kid wasn't running around on a highway.
BF
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